Caerellius Priscus is the name given to the man on an inscription recovered at Mogontiacum (Mainz),[1] set up by a governor of Germania Superior who was afterwards governor of Roman Britain in the late 170s.
The name of his son in the inscription implies that his gentilicium was "Caerellius", which is how Anthony Birley refers to him.[2] Edmund Groag suggested the dedicant might be Asellius Aemilianus proconsul of 192–193, but Birley disagrees.[3] Birley also admits "Caerellius" might be identical with Gaius Caerellius Sabinus, legate of Legio XIII Gemina and afterwards governor of Raetia, but finds several objections to this, most notably that Sabinus' wife was Fufidia Pollitta and the wife of the man in this inscription was named Modestiana.[4] Birley concludes by stating the "most likely" identification of "Caerellius" is with Caerellius Priscus, praetor tutelaris under Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, between the years 161 through 169.[4] This is the same identification that Géza Alföldy makes.[5]